Leisure: Festa della Bruna, the Murgia park and «Città che legge»
The municipality's tourism portal marks the year with the Holy Week rites, the Festa della Bruna on 2 July, Sant'Eustachio in September and the living nativity in the Sassi. Around the city lies the Murgia and rock churches park; Matera holds the «Città che legge» (reading city) title and has a reading pact.
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A recurring calendar
The Matera Welcome portal lists as recurring events the Holy Week rites, with the Good Friday procession; the Festa della Bruna, the patronal feast, on 2 July; Sant'Eustachio on 20 and 21 September, which also commemorates the 1943 uprising; and the living nativity in the Sassi at the end of the year. Among festivals it mentions the Matera Fiction Festival, devoted to TV series, and the Matera Film Festival.
The Murgia park
The archaeological, historical and natural park of the Murgia and the rock churches of the Matera area, set up by regional law in 1990, covers about 8,000 hectares between the ravines (gravine) of Matera and Picciano and the Bradano river. It contains Palaeolithic caves, Neolithic villages, rock churches and fortified farmhouses; the portal suggests walks, birdwatching, mountain biking and trekking with the park's guides.
Reading
Matera has been awarded the «Città che legge» title by the Centro per il libro e la lettura (Cepell), an institute of the Ministry of Culture. The city's reading pact (Patto per la lettura) has been signed by more than sixty associations, public bodies and private organisations.
Sources
Updated: 2026-10-22
Updated: 2026-10-22
Updated: 2026-10-22
Reviewed: 10/23/2026 · by piero.avolio · rev. 1 · Period: → 2027-10-31
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